A Starz spokesperson says that a technical glitch is to blame for the early digital release of episode seven of BMF — a move that drew the ire of executive producer and director Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.
On Sunday, the rapper and executive producer on several Starz shows slammed the network in a series of social media posts for making the episode temporarily available to some viewers.
“Starz is a shit show, they better sell it fast. They put the fucking BMF show on, then took it down. what network does shit like that? They just ruined the anticipation of The episode i directed, I WORKED HARD ON THIS. I can’t work with these people anymore,” he posted.
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He added: “🏃♂️💨I’m out till next week Saturday 12AM , because the shit people are gonna say when they find out BMF is not coming on this week. 🤦♂️ it’s a good time to catch up.”
Jackson said he was informed that Starz execs “wanted to hold episode 7 back a week so We can roll right in GHOST Nov 21. I said cool i like that idea.Then these shit head people put the fucking episode out for 3 hours then take it down. 🤦♂️ This is not ok, when I get uncomfortable i make everybody uncomfortable now who getting fired? until you figure that out don’t call my phone respectfully.”
However, a Starz spokesperson said that a technical glitch was to blame for the BMF episode becoming available a week earlier than planned.
“The fan demand for BMF, and specifically this highly anticipated episode directed by executive producer Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson, is undeniable,” the spokesperson said. “There was a technical glitch that allowed fans that have the Starz app who logged in right at midnight to temporarily access the episode early. The episode will be released globally as planned on Sunday, Nov. 14, across all Starz platforms.”
In his posts, Jackson went on to note how proud he is of the episode, calling it his “best work” as a director to date, and thanked fellow rapper Eminem for appearing in the episode.
“I’m disappointed that STARZ handled this so poorly,” he wrote. “I used my personal relationships to make things happen they couldn’t have made happen.”
They called me saying they wanted to hold episode7 back a week so we can roll right into GHOST.I said cool.Then these shithead people put the fucking episode out for 3hrs & take it down🤦♂️This is not ok when I get uncomfortable i make everybody uncomfortable now who getting fired? pic.twitter.com/GmJlagpCtd
— 50cent (@50cent) November 7, 2021
It’s not the first time that Jackson has criticized Starz, for whom he also has executive produced the hit Power franchise. In May, he revealed on social media that Patina Miller was joining the cast of Power Book III: Raising Kanan. In a subsequent post, he hinted that Starz execs weren’t happy that he posted the news before they were ready to make it public through official channels.
“STARZ is upset i posted @patinamiller 🤦♂️I didn’t know that picture wasn’t out, but i do know i have to build faster and get the fuck outta here this shit is a mess,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, his latest posts came three days after Lionsgate said it was exploring options for Starz, including spinning it off. After the news broke, Jackson posted a screenshot on Instagram and said the network’s success is due in part to the success of his shows.
“WTF is this, 🤷🏽♂️ No Raising Kanan, No BMF, what do you think made their stock jump,” 50 Cent posted, alongside a headline noting that Lionsgate’s stock had jumped after the news broke. “I gave them two hits back to back Smh 😆these people be crazy, smart as hell but no common sense.” He then commented: “I’m gonna look into buying the STARZ network.”
